HSBC cutting 1,700 jobs across UK
HSBC announces 1,700 job cuts among backroom staff
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Tuesday, 03, Nov 2009 03:01
By inthenews.co.uk staff..
HSBC has been forced to deny 1,700 job cuts were announced today on a 'good day to bury bad news'.
The announcement from the bank came just hours after the government said Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland would be broken up, sparking claims HSBC had waited to make the announcement.
But the bank denied this, saying it would be cutting the jobs among its backroom staff. HSBC did not take a government bailout during the banking crisis but raised funds from shareholders. It employs 40,000 people across the UK.
HSBC UK chief executive Paul Thurston said: "Decisions that affect our people are always difficult, but this restructure is an essential part of the streamlining of our business and the migration of activities into centres of excellence around the country.
"We will do everything we can to support those of our people who are directly affected and to minimise the number of redundancies. We have a good track record of redeployment and we will make every effort to maintain it."
HSBC added that the job losses are broadly distributed across the UK but branch staff are mostly unaffected.
HSBC sites which are to suffer include Southampton, Southend, Leicester and Sheffield. Unite the union said it was "appalled" at the decision, which followed further job cuts earlier this year.
Unite national officer, Rob MacGregor, said: "Unite is appalled that HSBC is choosing to cut a further 1,700 staff from across the UK. HSBC need to urgently reconsider its strategy. At a time of strong market performance by HSBC, they should not be cutting their most crucial asset, the staff that have contributed to £3 billion half year profits and delivered market strength in a challenging financial climate.
"Unite views the loss of 1,700 staff as a fundamental mistake. The union does not believe this will do anything to improve the company’s future performance. HSBC should think again before cutting its skilled and dedicated workers."
He added that many of those who will be affected are low-paid workers, on as little as £14,000 per annum.